Clara Penniman Award for Wisconsin Government and Public Management

Clara Penniman was the founder and first director of the Center for the Study of Public Policy and Administration, which became the La Follette Institute of Public Affairs in 1983. A specialist in taxation and public finance, Penniman was the first female chair of the University of Wisconsin–Madison's Political Science Department. She retired in 1984 and passed away in 2009. Penniman established the fund in 1998, and alumni and friends of the school continue to contribute to it in her honor. Every year, the La Follette School awards the Clara Penniman Prize to the graduating student who has written the most outstanding paper while a graduate student in public affairs.